'I stress that from an ECB perspective this competition is not on our agenda,' says Clare Connor of the proposed twenty20 Women's International Cricket League. Photograph: Richard Saker

England have increased the rhetoric against plans for a privately run women’s cricket tournament and stressed that they will not be releasing their centrally contracted players to play in it.

Sketchy details of the Women’s International Cricket League, a Twenty20 competition which would theoretically be staged in Singapore, have emerged from Australia over the last couple of months, with the former Southern Stars all-rounder Lisa Sthalekar named as the driving force behind the plans alongside her business partner Shaun Martyn, and a variety of cricket names claimed to be in support including Clive Lloyd, Geoff Lawson and Paul Marsh, who is the head of the Australian Cricketers’ Association.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has dismissed claims that the competition has endorsement from Cricket Australia and the International Cricket Council, stressing instead that the development of the women’s game should be left to the ICC and national governing bodies.

Clare Connor, the ECB’s head of women’s cricket and chair of the ICC women’s committee, said: “There has been a lot of misleading and as yet unsubstantiated information around how far advanced the proposed WICL is. I stress that from an ECB perspective this competition is not on our agenda.

“The immediate focus for international women’s cricket is the ICC International Women’s Championship, which the ICC board approved in January. For the first time ever, the top eight ranked women’s teams in the world will play each other in a bilateral competition, with results determining qualification for the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup. This is a real game-changer for the women’s game.”

She added: “The ICC and its members do not recognise privately owned tournaments or leagues in the men’s or women’s game. The ICC and the members have made significant investment into women’s cricket over the ten years to create a commercially viable product. In particular there is recognition that a Women’s World Twenty20 every two years will be the vehicle through which to build commercial investment in the women’s game, and it is for the ICC and the members to capitalise on this and take it forward.

“Any Twenty20 tournament that features the best players in the world outside ICC competitions would need to be run and controlled by one of the full members, as opposed to by a private operator.”

Giles Clarke, the ECB’s chairman who has been a leading advocate of the women’s game, said: “Put simply there is no support or interest for this proposed event. Women’s cricket has made enormous strides in recent years with great investment in the game from the grassroots to the international level. At the same time, thanks to the ICC global events and member investment, we have seen new and exciting players emerge on the world stage. This has to be the continued route for the women’s game, not a privately run competition.”

England announced last month that 18 women would receive upgraded contracts, and Australia’s players have also received landmark pay rises in the last two years to allow them full-time status.

Martyn had promised payments of around £20,000 per player for a tournament lasting less than two weeks. ‘‘Some of our tier-one players for the tournament will earn $30,000 to $40,000,’’ he told Fairfax Media. ‘‘And that’s only in year one. We have to move that salary cap up each year as we grow the business.

“What we’re trying to do is create an opportunity for women that they don’t have. We want to be able to say to young girls around the world there is actually a career pathway here.’’